Circles II
by PhoenixDfire
Summary: Major Susan Ivanova has just made a shocking discovery, which leads to a mad dash across the galaxy to try and reunite with a certain Captain Philip Douglas from the Commonwealth. If only to give him a kick up the backside!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One.

The ship shook under the impacts of the weapons. Susan Ivanova looked over the heads up display as it blared red with damage reports. She quickly pointed the auto repair over the high priority items and then turned her attention back to flying the ship. The ship was an old Cobra III freighter. Quite a good 'jack of all trades' ship in its day and, if well equipped, could easily hold off most pirate attacks under the command of a capable pilot.

However, it wouldn't really stand much of a chance against the flight of four unidentified Thunderbolt fighters, which had been pursuing her since she left Earth two days ago. No warning, no threats, no ultimatum had been forth coming, just a chase across two sectors and then their sudden attack just two hours away from the jump-point to Babylon 5.

The four fighters had finished their firing pass and we're setting up for a second run. She grimaced as she realised that this poor old ship wouldn't be able to much more of that kind of punishment but she had a plan.

"Is the package ready?" She called into com-link.

"Aye Aye Sir." came the reply. "Just let me know when you want this bad boy dropped."

The formation of thunderbolts had completed their turn, formed up and was bearing down on the Cobra. Ivanova fired the lateral thrusters in a desperate evasive manoeuvre to avoid incoming fire. It seemed to do the trick as the fighter's fire streaked past the viewscreen.

"Let it go!" She ordered.

"Aye Aye Sir!"

The ship shuddered as something big detached from underneath the ship. Ivanova threw all power into the rear engines and the Cobra jumped forward like a dog let off its lead. She started to count down from five. There was an explosion behind the ship when she reached two. She looked at the scanner and breathed a sigh of relief as it showed five piles of debris, where the Thunderbolts and their jury rigged mine had been.

"That was close." came a voice from behind her.

"It was supposed to detonate at five." said Ivanova, she tried to sound annoyed but couldn't, not to this person.

"Well, I recalculated. We were closing too fast."

Ivanova snorted in disbelief.

"There is no way you did all that in your head."

"I'll write out the equations if you want." The voice was coming from an access port at the rear of the Cobra's bridge.

A young woman emerged from the access port. She had an athlete's figure and short hair but it was her face which caused Ivanova a little shock and thrill at the same time. It was like looking in the mirror, if that mirror showed how you looked twenty years ago. The woman sauntered over to the other seat on the bridge and sat down.

"Any idea who they were?" She asked.

"I have a couple of idea's." replied Ivanova, "but we're going to need this bucket of bolts to reach B5 before we work out our next move."

"So what needs doing?"

"Everything, probably. I had to beg so many favours just to get this junkpile."

"Ok, I'm on it." The woman got up and headed back to the access port.

"Oh, and Abigail?" Ivanova said, "I want you to be careful. I want to deliver you to your father in one piece, so you can see me kick his smug Scottish ass."

The younger woman smiled.

"Yes Mom." She said sarcastically. "Oh by the way, it's arse. We are British after all."

She left Ivanova to her thoughts. It was only a month ago that Abigail had turned up on her doorstep. Since then, things had been a little bit hectic. Thankfully, she had a large amount of leave, which she took, and decided to find a certain Captain Phillip Douglas of the commonwealth. And have some choice words with him about Abigail's parentage. Choice words and maybe a punch or two.


	2. Chapter 2

"How long is this going to take?" Abigail fidgeted while both women stood in line.

"As long as it takes," Ivanova replied. "Babylon 5 queues are notoriously long so be patient."

"Couldn't you pull rank?"

"What? And flag up to the universe that we're here." Ivanova replied irritably, whilst scanning the queue ahead, "No Chance!"

She didn't recognise the security guard on duty at the head of the queue but after being away from the place for nearly ten years, she didn't expect to. There was one thing she noticed straight away, everything looked in a poor state of repair. The panels and floor seemed shabbier and cracks had appeared in the floor in a couple of places. She didn't see anybody walking around with the floor stress monitors that she used to trip over either.

"So what's our next move?"

"We got to ground." Ivanova replied, "I've got a couple of contacts in Brown Sector who should give us some idea what we're up against."

They waited in line for another twenty minutes before presenting identicards to the security officer, who swiped them through without comment and then slipped away into the crowd. For a second, she though she saw Security Chief Allen in the crowd but after a quick scan of the faces in the crowd, dismissed it as paranoia.

"So weird having one of these." Abigail looked at her identicard.

"Well, don't get attached to that one." Ivanova replied as she approached the lift, "I've got about six others for each of us from covert ops before we left. We'll be a lot of different people before we're finished."

They both stepped into the Empty Turbo lift and Ivanova keyed for Brown Sector. Once the Turbolift had started Abigail turned to Ivanova.

"What I don't get is why we're not running straight for commonwealth space?" commented Abigail.

"Because that's exactly what they would expect us to do."

"Who's they?"

"Well, that's the thing, we don't know."

"So, this is more than just getting me home?"

"Of course." replied Ivanova." Ever since the Commonwealth came on the scene, certain interested parties have been trying to infiltrate it. The old Psi Corp got obsessed with it before they were erm… restructured. And don't forget all that business with the Excalibur."

"You're using me a bait?" Abigail seemed taken aback.

"Not really, but I can kill two birds with one stone. 1. Get you home and 2. We might expose this organisation that's after you."

The doors slid open and the stench of Brown Sector hit their senses like a high speed train.

"Oh Lord, No wonder they call it Brown Sector, it smells like Sh.."

"I know, I didn't think it could have got worse." Ivanova scanned round the area, "Right, follow me."

The two women walked through the dark stinking corridors, the lighting had failed in several places, leaving two of them relying on portable flashlights as they walked through something moist on the floor. Occasionally, they came across the same graffiti on the walls.

"Oh –ho. Gangs." muttered Ivanova, who reached into her belt and produced a PPG.

"I could have done with one of those." Said Abigail.

"I'm sure that you've got a whole brain full of surprises if anyone dares to jump us."

The carried on through the muck for a few minutes. They began to hear some quiet noises from behind them. A quiet 'Tik' sound slowly repeated in the distance.

"That doesn't sound like any machine to me." Said Abigail.

"It's not. Get ready to …"

Just at that moment, somebody dropped down in front of them, making loud and fast 'Tik' noises. Ivanova reacted instantly and shot him with the PPG. He collapsed in a heap on the floor. They began to run, ducking round corner this way and that. Abigail was completely lost with the dizzying number of turns. The gang of people making the tik noises were getting closer and the closer they got the faster they repeated the tik. It was like having your own range finder. They finally turned a corner to find the way blocked.

"Damn it. They blocked it off!" Ivanova shouted.

"You knew the way?" Abigail replied disbelieving.

There was movement behind them, Abigail and Ivanova turned to face it. Gun at the ready. The Darkness exploded with figures. The Gang rushed the two women. Ivanova got a couple of shots off before they got to her but then they all fell to the floor obviously writhing in pain. Ivanova glanced over at Abigail. She was standing in a trance, reminding her freakily like Leta Alexander, muttering words over and over again.

Before she could take advantage, however, something dropped behind Abigail, grabbed her and pulled her up through the ceiling, disappearing into the darkness above.

All Ivanova managed to shout was "Abigail!" before there was a thump against the back of her head and then everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

_It was hazy as she tried to remember, was it only two weeks ago?_

There was a bell call from the apartment door. Major Ivanova woke and looked at her bedside clock. It blinked 4:30am back at her. She could have sworn that it was blinking in a monovalent manner, or it could have been the lack of sleep. The bell sounded again. It was a brisk and no nonsense ring which meant only one thing. It was work.

Sighing, she dragged herself out of the bed, and walked over to the caller. As there was no wolf of the night to talk to, she activated the caller to whoever was the hateful person who was at her door.

"You are aware of the time?" She said trying not to growl.

"I am Major, "came the reply, a familiar feminine voice, which Ivanova could not place.

"And who may inquire is making the call?" Ivanova forced, trying to supress the irritation at the curt reply.

"Well, the president refer's to me as number one but I am good friends with Stephen."

Ivanova was taken aback by the reply. From that little comment she knew she wasn't dealing with Earth Force Intelligence but Alliance Intelligence. 'Number One' as she referred to herself was the former leader of the Mars resistance. She'd taken over the position of Head of the Intersteller Alliance's Inteligence when Michael Garibaldi had moved on. For ten years, her quiet ghosts kept President Sheridan informed on member's internal affairs and external threats, with a remarkable level of efficiency. Very few people knew that 'Number One' and Dr. Stephen Franklin had an on/off thing.

Ivanova had only met her twice, once when visiting John and Delenn on Minbar and the other after the 'Ark Royal' incident had been resolved five years ago. She double checked that she was alone with the apartment's security features and then buzzed the open button to her apartment. The woman walked in and while she came up the stairs to the apartment, Ivanova just had enough time to change. By the time there was a knock on the door Ivanova had managed to make herself reasonably presentable.

She opened the door to reveal a slight woman with a short bob of blond hair and sharp intelligent eyes.

"May I?" she asked.

"I though only vampires had to ask for permission?" replied Ivanova.

"Oh, it's the same for all people who work in the dark." She shot back smiling.

Number One walked into the sparse apartment and sat at the breakfast bar when Ivanova when indicated.

"Coffee?" Ivanova offered.

"Yes please." replied Number One. "I've got too much blood in my caffeine stream."

As the coffee peculated on the kitchen worktable, Number One produced a small file and passed it over to Ivanova. After she'd done that, she got out a scanner, ran it round the room and then got a small red ball out her bag and placed it on the table.

"Well, that's as secure as I can make it." She said to Ivanova's puzzled expression. "In my line of work being paranoid is standard issue."

Ivanova smiled, "So this must be important to the Alliance then?"

"Actually, it's not really." She replied. "Stephen mentioned something last week that set off a little warning flag in the back of my head. However, I won't lie. Whenever this comes up, I'm always interested."

"Ok, you've lost me already. Not really a good start."

"Yes, I know, I'm starting in the middle. Three weeks ago, just outside Vorlon space, a lifeboat was found. Low on power and with obvious battle damage. Out of the forty occupants, there was only one survivor. For all appearances, an eighteen year old girl. She's been taken care of at the Earth Force Military Hospital in Geneva."

"Ok, tragic and there's a twist coming isn't there."

"You mean apart from being just outside Vorlon space?"

"There are always new wreaks near Vorlon space." Replied Ivanova. "A sad fact that a lot of treasure hunters, scavengers and Archaeologists, ignore the ISA warnings that Vorlon Space is off limits. Then they wonder why their ships are vaped by the defenses the Vorlon's left behind."

"I suppose so." admitted Number One. "However, the lifeboat was drifting into Vorlon space and it was of Commonwealth design."

Ivanova dropped her coffee.

"Sorry about that, " Ivanova mumbled, trying to find a cloth to clean up the spill. She was flustered and lost her usual cool composure.

The Commonwealth. She hadn't heard from them since Lennier had died during the telepath war. After that, her communicator which had a direct line to Captain Phillip Douglas had remained silent. She'd even taken the communicator to Garabaldi to see if it was still working ok. Hers was but it wasn't picking up any signal from the other, which meant it had been destroyed. Ivanova had taken it as a sign that Douglas had died or even worse, lost his communicator.

"So as far as the Commonwealth was concerned, you thought about coming to me?" Ivanova asked.

"Actually, I wasn't going to, until I was discussing something with Stephen about that time."

"It was about a year before the telepath war. A relevantly quiet time if I remember, apart from the Commonwealth."

"Well, he mentioned that you came to him about that time, feeling a bit ill." She continued, looking a little sheepishly. "In fact, he said it was one of the times where he thought he dead right about something only for it to turn out wrong."

"Really?"

"He thought you were pregnant."

Ivanova dropped the cloth she was mopping up with. Number One recognised the look of shock and quickly carried on with her explanation.

"So I obtained a readout of the survivor's DNA and …" She opened the folder at a results page. "She appears to be the daughter of Captain Douglas." Number one looked at her meaningfully, a penny in the air.

The penny dropped.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Ivanova. "Eighteen years old… Impossible."

"Well, not really." Said Number One. "In your debrief documents from the time, you say there's a station in the commonwealth where there's a time violation effect?"

Ivanova wasn't listening to Number One. "I'm going to kill him." She whispered out loud.

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm going to find him, kick his ass and then wring his frigging neck." Ivanova shouted.

Number One looked shocked in reaction to this outburst and an awkward silence followed for thirty seconds or so.

"Sorry ." She mumbled an apology to Number One.

"That's ok." smoothed Number One, afraid of another outburst. "It must be a bit of a shock."

"Is this girl recovering or being held prisoner?" She asked, her composure regained.

"Erm.. Recovering."

"Right. " Said Ivanova. She walked over to the side of the room, opened a drawer and pulled out a communicator and a PPG. She called on the communicator.

"Yes. Major Ivanova here. When's the next military flight to Geneva?"

There was a pause.

"Book me on it." She ordered, "And after that, call General Mckenzies' office and tell them I'm taking his offer of backdated shore leave, starting tomorrow."

She got an acknowledgment and signed off.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention." She said to Number One, "I've got it covered."

"If you're going to do what I think you are, I'll have to inform …"

"That's OK." Said Ivanova, cutting her off. "Inform who you need to. I'm going to take that girl home before she gets appropriated, rendered or whatever the term is for official kidnapping."

She was expecting protest from the other woman but there was none forthcoming. Number One just smiled, packed her things. She walked to the door in silence before turning round and saying.

"Mind you if you pass on the message that the ISA still are looking for a means of communication, I'd appreciate it."

And with a that same smile, she nodded a farewell to Ivanova and left. Ivanova counted to ten, suppressing her anger at the fact that this probably important to the Alliance after all, and then rushed up stairs to pack.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lights passed over Ivanova's eyes. She felt lifted, and then floated along seeing hazy lights come and go. She could see vague shapes hovering over her as she tried to breathe. That was the trick, take one breath and make damn sure that you take another. Abruptly her vision cleared, three people were rushing her down a corridor on a gurney. Was that Garibaldi and Zac running behind, she couldn't tell as her vision blurred again.

"She's waking up!" said one voice.

"Put her under before she does more damage." said another.

She felt the darkness take her again and remembered.

* * *

><p>The hospital in Geneva was spotless. Ivanova was new that the Swiss had a reputation for cleanliness but the procedures involved were intrusive at best. Her Earthforce ID had got her this far. Her contact with the Chiefs of Staff were going to get her a meeting and her conversation with Mr Garabaldi had set up an escape route.<p>

She was walking next to a Dr Greeson. The large briefcase she was carrying, which weighed a ton. Dr Greeson had been monitoring the newcomer's condition since she arrived, which meant that Ivanova was suspicious of his motives right from the start. He also had an envelope with him that had the results of a DNA test done earlier that day. She was trying to supress all the emotions that came with the positive result. This woman was her biological daughter and the simmering anger at her father was difficult to control.

They came to a private room just off the main corridor and Dr Greeson knocked on the door.

"Come in." The voice had an English Accent.

Dr Geeson signalled to Ivanova to stay here. They'd discussed that is would be best to wait until the Dr was sure that the girl could cope with Ivanova's introduction. So Susan stood outside waiting for the summons. She noticed a lot of the hospital staff seemed to take notice of her and smile. She couldn't work out if they were being genuine or smiles of sympathy.

"… We'll there's someone I would like you to meet." came the doctor's voice.

Blowing out a breath, she turned and walked into the room. The Doctor and the young woman both had her back to her as she entered but then suddenly the girl turned her head to look at her and for both of them time seemed to stop. Ivanova was looking at her own face. Same mouth, same cheekbones, same hair colour and even the same hairstyle but her eyes were Phillip Douglas'. The young woman was evaluating her and then suddenly her eyes showed recognition. Ivanova's mind was filled with one word.

_Mother?_

There was no doubt in her mind. The contact was so familiar, it had to be from a family member. All sorts on unconscious images flashed through her mind but it was such a familiar touch. It was then Ivanova realised that, like with her mother, it was a two way link. In a matter of seconds, this younger woman knew everything about her and visa-versa. It was like living years in seconds. Ivanova felt her legs go funny and just managed to avoid an undignified fall to the floor by prospering herself up on the wall.

Abigail.

That's all she needed to know. The young woman's eyes rolled back in her head and she fell back onto her bed, obviously fainting. Doctor Greeson looked at both of the women in shock and quickly acted by taking Abigail's pulse and checked her breathing. After he was finished he looked at Ivanova with concern.

"What was that?" He asked.

It took Ivanova a couple of seconds to process what he had just said.

"I have no idea." lied Ivanova.

"Well, she's only passed out." Dr Greeson said. "Mind you, whe's been doing that on and off, since she arrived. Is there something between you two?"

Ivanova shook her head, unsure by what he meant. The Doctor helped to put Abigail back under the covers.

"Oh, is it ok to wait for her to come round?"

"Certainly." replied the Doctor, smiling he left the room and closed the door.

Ivanova just sat next to the bed, just staring at the young woman. This was very surreal. She opened the briefcase and placed a small red sphere on the table next to the bed. The room was about seven or eight floors up and large window gave a great panoramic view of Geneva. As it was early evening, it was beginning to light up as the sun began to set.

_Has he gone? _Came a thought

_Yes. _Ivanova replied

_Can I talk?_

_They'll probably have the place bugged!_

_That's OK. I've got nothing they don't already know._

_They know where you're really from? They know what your P rating is? _

_Yes and No. I think they've been testing me though. I won't say anything they don't already know._

Abigail appeared to slowly come round and sit up in her bed. She stared at Ivanova, not knowing how to react. Ivanova was impressed by her acting skills.

"Sorry about that," Abigail said. She had a very soft cool melodic voice. Ivanova though it was like having her ears cleaned out with silk. "I've been passing out every now and then since I woke up. Recovering from Oxygen deprivation, they tell me."

"Yes, I've been though that as well. My name is Major Susan Ivanova."She announced as if the exchange hadn't take placed. "I'm here to ask you a few of questions."

A quizzical look came over Abigail's face and then she replied "of course."

"You're name please?"

"Abigail Hutchison"

"You're Rank in the Commonwealth Navy?"

"The Commonwealth?" replied Abigail.

Ivanova allowed herself a small smile. Abigail was playing this role very well; hopefully this would fool anybody who would be monitoring this conversation.

"Miss Hutchison." said Ivanova adding a most officious edge to tone in her voice. "I am probably the only Earth Force Officer to be permitted inside a Commonwealth Corvette. Without me, you're Commonwealth and the Alliance would have been at war five years ago. So I'm going to insist you don't treat me like an idiot and we'll get along just fine."

_Whoa! Love the Strict Teacher Act. _sent Abigail.

_Act?_ replied Ivanova, _Just you wait young lady._

"I am Lieutenant Hutchison of the Commonwealth Navy. My Serial number is 5647 dash 7776 dash 0099." Abigail replied, putting just the right amount of formality in her voice.

"You are not a Prisoner of War, Lieutenant."

"Is there a way to confirm that?"

"Are you aware of Captain Phillip Douglas?"

"I've never met Admiral Douglas."

_He's Admiral now? _The thought popped into Ivanova's head before he could stop it and Abigail picked it up straight away, much to Ivanova's regret.

_The Admiral's my father? _Abigail seemed shocked by this and was curious to know more.

_We'll discuss that later. You are in a serious situation and we can't afford to be distracted._

"Your commonwealth lifeboat was drifting into Vorlon space when it was recovered. The Inter-Steller Alliance will need to know why you were in the vicinity."

"I was part of the crew of the Corvette CNV-561 Endeavour. I don't know what we were doing near the Vorlons because the mission was on a need to know basis and apparently I didn't need to know."

"I see, are you the helmsman, gunner or engineer?"

That took Abigail back a bit

"Erm. Engineer. How did you know?"

"Like I said Lieutenant. I've flown on those ships."

_Oh lord, there about five people heading our way. They're telepaths. Abigail sent the though in shock._

_Aw hell, They've moved faster than I thought._

_Who's "They"?_

_No Idea. Quick how many cameras?_

_Two. Top left and right corners from your point of view._

Ivanova, quickly bent down and pressed a button on the briefcase. She then produced a set of clothes from it.

"Put these on." She ordered and then quickly turned to the large window. There were catches, which was a relief because smashing the window might get an immediate response. The window opened silently and Ivanova evaluated the drop. She quickly ran back to the briefcase and opened it fully. Inside were two small hover belts. She quickly put one on and threw the other to Abigail.

_You're prepared._ observed Abigail.

_I'm a good girl scout. _Ivanova sent back sarcastically.

Ivanova climbed out of the window, and sat on the window ledge with her feet hanging over the side. Abigail did the same, unsure how this would play out. Ivanova gestured to some button's on the belt.

"These will slow your fall. Just press the blue button when you're out of the window."

Abigail looked unsure

"Oh Nevermind!" Ivanova just pressed the blue button anyway and pushed the young woman off the window ledge

Abigail was about to scream but when she just hovered in front of Ivanova seven or eight floors up she just smiled.

"You'd better wipe that smile off your face. The battery pack only has sixty seconds." Ivanova stated matter of factly.

"So how do I descend before I become street pizza?"

"Press the blue button again." Said Ivanova who jumped off the ledge herself.

They slowly descended until they got to the floor. As they reached the ground Abigail looked up and saw some figures appear that the window they'd just been.

"Oh-Ho!" she indicated to Ivanova.

"I know." Ivanova replied, "Follow me."

The ran round the corner and towards the car park. Ivanova picked up a set of keys from her belt and pressed the button. There was a noise from one of the cars behind them. It was a mid range and non descript. Ivanova, ran over and opened the door. Abigail got in the other side.

"This is a bit cramped." said Abigail.

"Part of its charm." said Ivanova.

She quickly fired up the electric engine and the car moved away. Ivanova pulled up the navigation console. There's a set of malfunction camera's about half a mile from here. They left the hospital car park and turned the corner. After half a mile of quick movement, the car pulled over next to a small bubble taxi. Ivanova got out and Abigail followed. Ivanova, then pressed a control on the car and it sped off again towards the spaceport.

Abigail and Ivanova got into the taxi without a word.

"The Mag Rail station please." Ivanova said to the Taxi's AI and the taxi set of at a sedate pace. It wasn't long before it was overtaken by several black cars racing along the highway. Ivanova smiled at Abigail breathing out a sigh of relief.

_They've gone for it. _She thought, _I reckon we've got half an hour before they realise that mistake but then we'll be in Austria by then. I've got a ship waiting for us at the Mozart Spaceport._

_What was the red sphere? _Asked Abigail.

_That was a projector. All the camera's would have seen is you an I having a chat until someone walked in the room. Ivanova Replied_

_How come I never knew I had such a cool Mom? _Abigail looked impressed. _Do I call you double oh six and a half?_

_You and I are going to have such a long talk when we get out of here._

_I do know about the birds and bees, y know. Abigail felt indignant._

_Yes, but the birds and bees work slightly differently in the commonwealth._

_Don't I know it! _

With that, they arrived at the Mag Rail train station and the two women left the taxi.

* * *

><p>She came round slowly in the B5 sick bay.<p>

"Do you know how many things I can charge you with?" came a familiar voice.

Zac Allen came into focus.

"I counted about twenty four?" said another voice and Ivanova could also focus on Micheal Garabaldi.

"Really, I got twenty five." replied Zac, light heartedly.

"Both of you can go f…" she started to reply.

Then it hit her.

"Abigail! Oh God. Where's Abigail?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"So, on a scale of 1 to 10, do you know how stupid you've been?" said Garabaldi.

"I would say 12." commented Zac.

"Oh, I would say a lot higher than that!" countered Garabaldi.

Ivanova propped herself up and glared at both of the men. She tried to get out of bed, when a wave of nausea hit her and she collapsed back. She looked round the private room in sick bay. Brilliant White with a Bed, a table next to her and a chair in the corner with her clothes neatly piled on.

"If you two have finished with the Rito and Sooty routine," Ivanova retorted, "I've got to get after someone."

"Yes, we know." replied Zac. "That young woman who you came in with? We've got a rough idea where she is."

"Is she …"

"Yes, she's alive." Garabaldi said, "What makes you think you could just saunter into brown sector? It's changed a lot since you were here. "

"Changed?" Ivanova said, "You mean it's got worse."

"We mean it's a no go zone." replied Zac, "Due to Budget Cuts, security doesn't go down there unless we have to and then only in squads of ten."

"But my …"

"If it was anybody else, I would have said your friend is as good as dead, but the fact they left you alive says to me you were targeted." reasoned Garabaldi. "And if you were targeted, then you're friend should be still alive."

"But how did they know we were coming?" asked Ivanova.

"They probably didn't." replied Zac. "They probably sent out the word that your friend was to be found. I haven't heard of anything being talked about on the grapevine though."

"Susan," Garabadi hesitated, unsure how to proceed. "I'm willing to help you out here but I need to know everything that's going on here. I help you bust someone out of Earthdome and then this happens."

Ivanova gestured to a pocket on her nightclothes. Garabadi took the hint and took out a scanner from his suit pocket. A quick scan revealed no surveillance.

"The girl is question is my …" she paused, unsure how to proceed.

"Your new wife?" guessed Zac, "I mean, talk about young!"

Ivanova looked horrified.

"Wha? Eh? No!" she spluttered, "Erm. I can't marry my own daughter."

"What!" Garabaldi and Zac shouted in unison.

"I mean, if I could marry someone that gorgeous I would." Ivanova went on flustered. "But I don't have time to start even looking and…"

"Hold on," Said Garabaldi. Ivanova stopped wittering. "Daughter? You and who's?"

"Can't Say." She murmured.

"Hmm." Garabadi stared at her for a second, Ivanova could almost hear the gears in his head working as he deduced possible candidates, "That's got to be that Commonwealth fella."

Ivanova couldn't look him in the eye. Garabadi grunted, knowing he'd guessed correctly.

"It would explain a lot, "He continued. "Apart from the old gang, he's probably the only one you'd stick your neck out for. If this girl is your daughter…"

"She is."

"then we're going to have to be extra careful."

Ivanova sat up more slowly this time and gingerly got out of the bed. Zac got the hint.

"We'll wait outside.

Abigail woke in the dark. She fought back the panic and tried to assess where she might be. She wasn't bound or gagged. She had a thumping headache at the back of the head. One of the parts of Commonwealth Psi training was sensory deprivation. Trainees would be unable to see or hear and then had to use their Psi abilities to remove themselves from the situation they'd been placed in. The trouble was Abigail wasn't very good at it.

She calmed her mind with some breathing exercises and realised she couldn't hear anybody. She could hear her own breathing, so they hadn't done something to her ears. She let her mind stretch out, the background buzz of other people's thoughts was present and so she deduced that she hadn't been drugged. Suddenly, she felt the awareness of a couple of minds not far away. She could feel their curiosity and knew she was being watched.

She hadn't moved yet, hopefully her captors would not realise she was awake. She gave herself a moment collect herself and focused on the minds. One mind was rugged, sluggish and felt impulsive, the other appeared clear, concise and detached. She smiled at herself while evesdropping on their conversation. Mr Slug and Mr Clean she named them.

"Is she awake?" asked Mr Slug

"Not that I can tell." Replied Mr Clean, "are you planning to go in there and kick her awake?"

"Nah, I'm happy for her to sleep. I just want this over so we can get paid."

"Oh don't worry, you'll get everything you deserve."

"Is she the one you're after?"

"Oh Yes. You left the other one alone?"

"That's what you wanted? Why?"

"If you'd killed the other one, you'd have the whole interstellar alliance down on you. How many Rangers would your little gang be able to handle?"

" Al right, I get it."

"So what do you want with this one?"

"She might be a key to getting into the biggest safe door in the galaxy."

"Sounds Cool."

Abigail tried for a light scan. She couldn't pick up much from Mr Clean except the phrase 'coveters'. The man was very tight minded.

"Right, Get in there and use the two drugs syringes on her." ordered Mr Clean. "If she's not alive at the end of this, then you'll wish the rangers would come after you. They try and take people alive." He paused for effect. "We don't!"

Abigail could feel the second person leave the other room and walk round to the room she was in. She decided to 'play possum' for the moment and see if she could make a break for it. She shifted her position a little, bracing for a jump. A door opened, letting in dim light which hurt her eyes a little. Whoever Mr Slug was, his shadow was tall and stocky. He sauntered over to where she was lying. She could feel his over-confidence. He bent over to put an injection into her and she practically exploded at him.

Caught by surprise, Mr Slug was barrelled over and there was a couple of small tinkle of smashing glass from the syringes he was carrying. Abigail didn't wait to see. She sprinted for the door. She could feel Mr Clean moving out of the other room in panic. She decided to turn to the offensive, she sharply turned to her left and just as he was coming out of the room, she high kicked him. The kick caught him just under the chin, lifting him off the floor a little and he fell in an undignified heap on the floor.

She quickly searched him, finding a PPG, a wallet and an identicard. She heard a noise of Mr Slug coming out of the room, so she quickly span and fired off two shots. They both hit him in the chest and he fell onto his back. Abigail ran past him to an exit door. She quickly check the outside camera and saw there were two of the gang that kidnapped her outside guarding the door. She grinned viciously.

She opened the door, the two men began to turn towards her.

"Pain!" she said softly at one and he doubled up as her psi power made his brain think that every nerve end was on fire.

"Real Pain." She said to the other and shot him in the leg with the PPG. Satisfied that both men were incapacitated, she fled the scene.

Ivanova, Zac, Garibaldi and ten handpicked men from security were riding the lift down to Brown Sector. The tension was palatable as the lift slowly arrived at the appropriate level. The door opened slowly to reviled Abigail waiting for them.

She said smiling, "Going Up?"

She joined the others in the lift, noticing the astounded expressions of the people in the lift.

"What is this? Guppy fish at feeding time?" she smirked.

"Oh you're so your father!" growled Ivanova.


End file.
